As August nears and the hockey calendar still feels stuck in neutral, the Canadiens rumor mill has found a new favorite target: Kirill Marchenko.
The chatter has been everywhere, with social media updates and speculation tying the Columbus Blue Jackets winger to Montreal almost daily. That’s the kind of noise the late, legendary Gazette hockey columnist Red Fisher used to avoid entirely.
Marchenko would make the Canadiens better. That part is easy.
The 6-foot-3, 201-pound right winger is a proven scorer who would bring instant offense. He put up 27 goals and 40 assists in 76 games for Columbus last season, and over four NHL seasons he has never finished with fewer than 21 goals. His best year came in 2024-25, when he reached 31.
He also fits a need. Montreal has to get bigger, and Marchenko would give the club size along with speed.
He has a strong shot, can fire in transition and does his best work attacking off the rush. Entering the third and final year of his US$11.55 million contract, with a cap hit of US$3.85 million, he would not be a crushing financial add.
But the real question is whether he would be worth the kind of price it might take to pry him loose.
Columbus scored 253 goals last season, 30 fewer than Montreal, and the Blue Jackets finished 2-7-1 down the stretch to miss the playoffs. Marchenko had one goal and two assists in the team’s final five games, so he was hardly the lone reason for their collapse. He was also asked to carry more weight on a roster with less talent than the Canadiens.
There’s another wrinkle here, too. Marchenko is represented by Dan Milstein, the same agent who also represents Ivan Demidov. Demidov led all NHL rookies with 62 points last season, including 19 goals, and on July 1 Kent Hughes announced an eight-year, US$73.2-million extension for him that begins in 2027-28.
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